Various medical examination devices or therapeutic devices have a C-arm on which corresponding examination or therapeutic equipment, for example a radiation source and a radiation receiver, are arranged, which can be moved in the room via the C-arm. One example of this are X-ray devices having an X-ray radiation source and an X-ray radiation receiver. They are used for acquiring radiographs. The C-arm is conventionally arranged on a moving device, for example a tripod or a multi-axis steering arm, by which, since the tripod or the articulated arm can be moved around several degrees of freedom, it can be moved in the room, so that the equipment arranged on the arm can be positioned in relation to the patient accordingly.
It is known to produce a C-arm of this kind by extrusion and subsequent rolling of the C-arm mold or as a cast metal component, conventionally made of aluminum. The maximum height of the cross-sectional profile of the C-arm is defined inter alia by the isocenter height and the minimum insertion radius. The arm width is in turn defined by the necessary mobility in respect of the angle of movement to be covered.
With different examination or treatment methods, the C-arm is moved around the patient at high speed in order to acquire 3D images in this way. Increasingly higher demands are made in respect of the rigidity and the increase in the natural frequency of the C-arm in order to achieve the desired image quality and in particular quiet running. So the rigidity of the C-arm can be increased, it is necessary to increase the wall thickness accordingly, although this firstly makes production of the C-arm increasingly difficult, and inevitably also leads to a significant increase in weight, in other words, the moved mass increases in this way, and this is disadvantageous. Secondly, the natural frequency would again be reduced, and this is likewise disadvantageous in respect of a stable arm movement.
From DE 10 2008 003 816 A1 an X-ray device comprising a C-arm rotatably mounted on a robotic arm is known, with the interior of the at least partially hollow C-arm being accessible in the interior of the arm from at least one access side to enable integration of at least some of the electronic components used for operation of the radiation source and the radiation receiver. The C-arm, comprising two separate arm sections joined together in order to form the arm shape, has struts arranged in the manner of a framework on the access side.
Furthermore, a hybrid C-arm for a medical imaging device is known from DE 20 2015 008 455 U1, and this has at least one carbon fiber-reinforced plastics material part, which is permanently arranged in or on the wall of the C-arm.